Céad Míle Fáilte ~ A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!

Here we seek a rest in the shade, some cool water and a little kindness. This blog is dedicated to peace, truth, justice and a post- industrial, post-petroleum illumined world in spite of all odds against it. I very much like the line about the ancient knight (see poem below) "His helmet now shall make a hive for bees" It is reminiscent of "beating swords into ploughshares" a sentiment I heartily approve of. Thank you for visiting ~ I hope you return!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Memorial Day 2010"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Our Plan’s not to fix up the leak,But to burnish BP’s green mystique,Make sure you’re confusedWhile we keep you amused,And hide that the prospects are bleak.~~~Ecology’s a useful tool,Read up without going to school;Only a foolThinks removing is coolOne leg from a three legged stool. - Benjamin the Donkey~~~

What sort of world are we building for our great-grandchildren? What sort of life will they have and is the nature of our ecosystems being altered by our quest for "progress" to the point of no return, where it shall be unable to susatin life?Why is the assumption that all technological invention is benign when it so very obviously is not? Why the blind eye turned to the suffering of organic life - plant, animal and human? Derrick Jensen's latest published in Orion magazine address these questions.

"Most people today have not awakened from the Cult of Progress. Even with the world being dismembered before their eyes, nearly all public figures continue to be members of this cult. The same is true for many nonpublic figures—for most of us—as we seem unquestioningly to presume that tomorrow’s progress will bring more good things to life, and will simultaneously solve the problems created by yesterday’s and today’s progress (without then creating yet more problems, as “progress” always seems to do)."~ Dystopia, at LATOC~~~QUOTE In 1970 Lewis Mumford wrote, “The chief premise common to both technology and science is the notion that there are no desirable limits to the increase of knowledge, of material goods, of environmental control; that quantitative productivity is an end in itself, and that every means should be used to further expansion.” Mumford asked the same question that so many of us ask, which is, Why on earth would a culture do so many crazy, stupid, destructive things? His answer cuts through the typical cornucopian garbage: “The desired reward of this magic is not just abundance but absolute control.” Mumford knew—as we all do—that there was no hope in proceeding “on the terms imposed by technocratic society.” He didn’t think change would be easy, saying that it might take “an all-out fatal shock treatment, close to catastrophe, to break the hold of civilized man’s chronic psychosis.” He was not optimistic: “Even such a belated awakening would be a miracle.” UNQUOTEThe rest of the article here: High on Progress by Derrick Jensen from Orion magazine.~~~

The inscription above the main entrance to Nebraska's beautiful State Capitol reads: "The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen." That's the whole idea behind neighborhood watch: residents will recognize and report criminal activity more readily if they know one another, and will deter crime by their watchfulness. We need a "cyber neighborhood watch" of the now five week old BP oil blowout disaster on the internet, and I am posting some links daily from here on out to help my fellow citizens do just that. The Gulf of Mexico is everyone's neighbor, so please help out with this "neighborhood watch".

What I want to know is exactly who in the name of all that is holy do those people at BP think they are? They've been lying and misleading the government, the media and the public at large, they've basically told the EPA to go sit down and shut up and they've been conducting themselves like despots, balking at giving the citizens the slightest bit of information about the danger and catastrophe that is befalling them.~~~

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

My favorite place on the net for news and savvy commentary is LATOC, the discussion forum for Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash which is owned and managed by Matt Savinar. One of the regular forum members is a certain Benjamin the Donkey, real name unknown, who has given permission for some of his wonderful comment-in-the-form of-limerick to be posted here.

If you are not familiar with LATOC please do yourself a favor and check it out.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The weather here in Lincoln, Nebraska USA this morning is absolutely a perfect summer morning. The peonies and poppies are in full bloom, and the roses are just beginning. Petunias purchased for my window boxes a month ago are blooming riotously and the veggies are off to a good start although I have to figure out who and what is eating my pepper plants and some of my herbs, and put a stop to is tuit suite.

Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast revealed the fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit: through them Thou didst draw the world into Thy net. 0 Lover of Man, Glory to Thee (Troparion). When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, he divided the nations. But when he distributed the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-Holy Spirit! (Kontakion)The Eastern Churches, Part One

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Lord, my people must've done something bad somewhere along the way. A couple hundred years ago, my ne'er-do-well family began washing up in the marshy bottom of Louisiana, with some loose idea of making a go of it in the inhospitable swamps. And they managed to create one of the most interesting civilizations the world has ever known, built on mudbugs and zydeco and the wonderful mixing of peoples.

And now, not five years after the storm rolled in to get them, the oil rolls in, too.One could be forgiven for thinking that God is angry at these people. (But that would be an awfully moronic thing to say, Rick Perry.) Of course, this was not an act of God. Harry Reid was right when he said it a few days ago: This was an act of greed. UNQUOTE

Dear reader, I am back from a brief vacation from blogging. I have been following the BP Gulf oil disaster over the past month with great interest and no small amount of fear and trembling. I mean, massive amounts of raw oil, natural gas and methane gas have been pumped into the ocean 24/7 and there isn't a damn thing anyone can do about it at over a mile down, don't let them fool you.

I have been startled to see such a disinterested response on the part of my fellow citizens, and dismayed to have sometimes encountered a spirited defense of the indefensible by people of goodwill who really should know better. But alas they have chose not to know better, and to take the "easy" route. Last laugh goes to Mother Nature, however, just who did they think they were messing with?

Yesterday's NYT has an excellent op-ed by Bob Herbert on the vapidity of America's response to this corporate-sponsored global nightmare:

“You can’t sleep no more; that’s how bad it is,” said John Blanchard, an oyster fisherman whose life has been upended by the monstrous oil spill fouling an enormous swath of the Gulf of Mexico. He shook his head. “My wife and I have got two kids, 2 and 7. We could lose everything we’ve been working all of our lives for.”

About Me, and About The Herb of Grace

I am a 57-year old wife, mother and grandmother who currently works as a beadworker, web mistress for my husband's jewelry store/art gallery and CASA volunteer. In my life I have been a seminarian, Protestant minister, professional cook, payroll clerk, hospital orderly, columnist, cook/gardener for a commune in San Francisco in the 1970's and 80's, opthalmalogy paraprofesional, financial advisor (now retired. I held Series 6, 63 and 65 securities licenses, and insurance lines of life, annuities and variable contacts)and was a small business owner from 2003 to 2008 (Calm Eagle Family Financials LLC). Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Rite and Traditional (Latin Rite)Catholicism, ancient Irish, Buddhist and Native American spiritualities all inform my worldview and spirituality. You will find a kindred spirit here if you value the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and of Mother Earth in equal measure, for they are each other's right and left hands.

~~~Namaste, and peace be with you.

Also known as the herb of grace, and rue, rosemary has deep associations with penance, resurrection, nativity and joy. This blog is dedicated to the spirit of peace, joy and life triumphant. Legend has it that during the flight to Egypt,the Virgin Mary draped her blue cloak over a white flowering rosemary bush to dry. The blooms have been blue ever since to represent Mary’s blue cloak.

Rosemary is known as the "herb of remembrance." It is said that rosemary will grow particularly well in gardens tended by strong-willed women.

The Old Knight

His golden locks time to silver turned;O time too swift,O swiftness never ceasing;His youth 'gainst time and age hath ever spurned,But spurned in vain; youth waneth by increasing;Beauty, strength, youth, are flowers but fading seen;Duty, faith, love are roots, and ever green.His helmet now shall make a hive for bees;And, lovers' sonnets turned to holy psalms,A man-at-arms must now serve on his knees,And feed on prayers, which are age's alms;But though from court to cottage he depart,His saint is sure of his unspotted heart.And when he saddest sits in homely cell,He'll teach his swains this carol for a song;"Blest be the hearts that wish my sovereign well,Curst be the souls that think her any wrong."Goddess, allow this aged man his right,To be your beadsman now, that was your knight. ~ by George Peele